Three Generations of Pat Rooneys

Pat Rooney Senior (1844-92) was an old time variety contemporary of Eddie Foy, Harrigan and Hart and Maggie Cline. He sang character songs, did jigs and played the stereotyped Irishman to the hilt – but apparently with a tad more gentility and subtlety than was the wont of most of his compatriots. Pat Rooney, Sr. was one of the major stars of his day, and a staple at Tony Pastor’s.

Pat Rooney, Jr. (1880-1962) formed a dance team with his wife Marion Bent. They were part of the generation that went from clog dancing to tap. Rooney Junior was apparently one of vaudeville’s most remarkable dancers. According to W.C. Fields, “If you didn’t hear the taps, you would think he was floating…”

When Bent retired in 1932, Pat Rooney III (1909-79) stepped into her shoes. According to historian Anthony Slide, the routine the father and son did “has never been successfully copied.” As Pat Rooney, Jr. slipped into retirement, number three continued to work solo for a number of years. He passed away in 1979.

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Published by travsd

Writer and performer Trav S.D. (www.travsd.com) is best known for his books "No Applause, Just Throw Money: The Book That Made Vaudeville Famous" (2005) and "Chain of Fools: Silent Comedy and Its Legacies from Nickelodeons to Youtube" (2013).
He has written for the NY Times, the Village Voice, American Theatre, Time Out NY, Reason, the Villager and numerous other publications. Trav has been in the vanguard of New York’s vaudeville and burlesque scenes since 1995 when he launched his company Mountebanks, presenting hundreds of acts ranging from Todd Robbins to Dirty Martini to Tammy Faye Starlite to the Flying Karamazov Brothers. He has directed his own plays, revues and solo pieces at such venues as Joe’s Pub, La Mama, HERE, Dixon Place, Theater for the New City, the Ohio Theatre, the Brick, and 6 separate shows in the NY International Fringe Festival. In 2014 he produced and directed the smash-hit "I’ll Say She Is", the first ever revival of the Marx Brothers hit 1924 Broadway show in the NY International Fringe Festival.
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7 comments

I am writing the first book on 19th century rotunda panoramas.These were the biggest paintings in the world, 50 x 400=20,000 square feet, housed in their own rotundas which were 16-sided polygons. Chicago in 1893 had 6 panorama companies and 6 panorama rotundas. Am seeking background on Wendell Stanton Howard a.k.a. Winfield Scott Hewitt Roney

Yes, I visited this with the International Panorama Committee several years ago. JERUSALEM ON THE DAY OF THE CRUCIFIXION stands at Ste Anne de Beaupre outside Qubec. This was made in New York City by Dr. Ernest Pierpont, who was associated with Reed & Gross of Chicago/Englewood. The rotunda, patented by Charles Henry Ritter–see GOOGLE PATENTS–was the original studio at Englewood. Reed & Gross produced units of BATTLE OF GETTYSBURG and JERUSALEM 1885-88 for cities from coast to coast and around the world: Australia, Canada,Europe. info to share

[…] act that could never have been heard, let alone appreciated, in a concert saloon. Song and dance man Pat Rooney, while still dressed in the ridiculous Leprechaun-like outfit that was standard “Irish” attire […]